I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for managing interference levels within a wireless communication environment.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. In such a system, each terminal can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. This communication link can be established via a single-in-single-out (SISO), multiple-in-signal-out (MISO), or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
Wireless communication systems can be configured to include a series of wireless access points, which can provide coverage for respective locations within the system. Such a network structure is generally referred to as a cellular network structure, and access points and/or the locations they respectively serve in the network are generally referred to as cells. In conventional wireless network implementations, a set of base stations can be utilized to provide network coverage for respective geographic areas corresponding to the base stations. Further, power levels of respective base stations in a wireless network can differ from base station to base station, based on factors such as the relative sizes of areas covered by the base stations and/or other such factors. For example, macro base stations can be configured to cover a large area and utilize a large power class, while pico base stations, femto base stations, or the like can be configured to cover a smaller area and utilize lower power.
In a wireless communication environment having unplanned deployments, such as femto base stations or the like, interference between respective communicating entities (e.g., base stations, terminals, etc.) can cause significant degradation in system communication performance. Moreover, in the event that such interference is sufficiently large, outages can result in various instances. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement techniques for resource control and interference management in a wireless communication system.